Lullaby
by FluffleNeCharka
Summary: In his dying moments, Cyrus remembers the past, the bits and pieces of time that shaped who he was, and a song his mother used to sing him. Oneshot, rated for character death, complete.


I don't recall much about my past.

I remember robots, and taking apart a toaster. I recall not having friends, though I know not why. I remember my mother singing to me, once, but her face is just too far away to be seen. I remember flashes, pieces of days. But...

I don't remember where I lived, who my parents were, if I had siblings, how I got my Pokemon, or anything outside of those flashes. No one in Team Galaxy knows. They think I'm perfectly sane. I'm not. Am I? It's not exactly a good thing, lacking this kind of knowledge. Maybe it doesn't make me insane. All I know is that my past is a giant blur I've long given up untangling. I tried, I did. It just boiled down to work or memories, and with my plans so close to frutation, I chose work.

I've always been like that. Homework, wiring, work. These are things I recall, some of the few things everybody's confirmed about me. I'd like to think I've done my best in life, all my life.

It's all gone now. The planning and work have fallen apart. I know why, too. It's amazing how many flaws you find in yourself when you're lying under a pile of rubble by what used to be a set of pillars. Have I had any failures this bad before? I'm guessing not, as I can't see anything a kid does bringing down the wrath of a god. This tops it all, I figure. Even if whatever is embedded in my ribs is going to kill me, hey, at least I died a notable death instead of a boring one. All my plans led to this, I suppose: a moderately interesting end.

"Cyrus?" a girl's voice, concerned. Blue hair.

For a second, I'm home, and my mother is smiling down at me with her hair falling into her gentle pink eyes.

Then I'm back and Zora is staring down at me. "I'm fine," I tell her even as blood trickles down my face, "You can go now."

She shakes her head, and I can hear Jupiter tell her an ambulance is on it's way. "Just stay awake a little longer, Cyrus. You'll be okay."

"My name's not Cyrus," I mumble, half incoherent as my vision swirls. The sky above is grey. Grey skies, my mom running out in the rain after my dad. Am I dying? "Not Cyrus at all..."

Zora's blue eyes betray her worry. She thinks I'm losing it altogether. "Cyrus? Stay with me."

"No, really," I sigh as Jupiter and Saturn exchange panic filled frowns, "It's not. Cyrus is my middle name." I smile what I hope isn't my last smile, though I'm not feeling any pain anymore. "I thought that was so clever at the time. You have no idea."

"Please, lie down," Zora tells me as I start to sit up, "Just relax. We're not gonna leave you."

"Your father's left us," my mother told me, her pink eyes gone dull, "He's left us all alone." And then she was running, out of the kitchen and up the stairs. There was a long silence as I sat there, not knowing what to do. A gunshot rang out, then a thud.

"Momma?" I whispered.

"What? No, Cyrus, it's me, Zora. Try to stay awake, please!" she's desperate now. Jupiter is bordering on tears behind her as Mars clutches her hand. "Please, don't die. Not because of me."

Die... My Magnemite, my poor Magnemite who I'd had from an egg. He was in bits and pieces on the floor, cracked right through the center of his body. Volkner, already a Gym Leader at fifthteen, made grown men cower as he screamed, "Is this a joke? Was this supposed to be funny?!" But no amount of yelling could reverse this. I should never have left my Magnemite alone. He was dead because of me, because I was an idiot.

"I've failed." I close my eyes, not entirely sure where I am. "I fail at everything."

"No you don't!" Zora tells me, desperate to keep me talking and awake, "You've accomplished a lot in life."

The door slams in my face as I stumble backwards, into the rain of Fortree City. "Go away! You're no son of mine - what have you accomplished? Nothing! You're just a mistake, you hear me?"

"I'm sorry," I whimpered.

"Snap out of it!" the blond boy's voice brings me to, as does the accompanying slap across the face I get. "If you die, you owe me ten million dollars, plus your vest!"

"Dejan, you didn't have to slap him!"

"I'm saving his life!"

My hand reaches out, almost of its own accord, to grab the boy's scarf. "Listen, if I die..."

"You owe me money?" his brown eyes are filled with well intended humor, but turn serious as my grip begins to loosen. "What is it?"

"I want you to bury me without a name on my tombstone," I cringe as things grow dark around the edges of my vision again. "I can't remember who I really am anymore."

"Okay, we can do that," Jupiter tells me as Dejan nods. Her hand runs through my hair, once. "Just stay with us for as long as you can, sweetie. You'll be okay."

"The sweetest lullaby, the sweetest song..." Oh, not again. I've fallen into another memory. They must be scared, I have to wake up. But my eyelids feels so heavy, and I can't breathe even though I'm trying. "Help me to sleep as the night comes along. Tell me of winter as I fall asleep, tell of misty white mountains so steep..."

Wait, I'm warm again. There's golden tile under my feet and the pain is gone from my side. Lavender. I smell lavender everywhere. This isn't a dream, is it? Light, there's light all around me, and as I turn, I see my mother smile. Her small, delicate hands reach out for mine.

"Sing me a sweet, sweet lullaby..."

That's her voice. It is, I know it beyond a shadow of a doubt as my eyes widen. It's really her.

"Mom!" I blurt out, and reach for her hands. "Mom, it's me!"

And finally, finally, for the first time since I was eight, she holds me close.


End file.
